The Inner City's Cliche

artist name: Jerry Manning Jr
age: 21
current location: Austin Tx
stage name: Curbside Jones (Artist/Producer/Graphic Artist)
website: www.emptysodacans.com
music site: www.cbtvondemand.bandcamp.com
twitter: www.twitter.com/CurbsideJones
blogger for: http://www.reupspot.com/ 

 

What’s the concept behind Cherry Blossom Effect: Endless Dream Theory?

Hmmmm…how can I put this? The album’s concept is one that can be interpreted differently based on who is listening.  When I made the project I wanted the listeners to have a sense of freedom in finding their own answers.  The title however, stands for something that can be added to the interpretation of the work.  “The Cherry Blossom Effect” stands for season…which in my mind, stands for change, and that change can be negative or positive…or maybe both.  The “Endless Dream Theory” subtitle I guess you can call it, is the foundation the project was built on.  It represents the idea that our reality could very well be just a series of dreams…and the state that we are in while we are sleep is actually the point when we’re living.  The idea is to get listeners to open up, and become insecure about what they hold to be true reality.  Each track can be viewed in 3 ways…Fantasy, reality, or time wasted.  I don’t at ANY time tell the listener what to think or feel.  The intro is called “The Theory”…and basically I tell you that I myself don’t have the answer to what I think reality is.  So in short, the concept of the album is what YOU, the listener makes it. Much love to Back2Pluto.com and Reupspot.com for the sponsor…they believed in my vision!

What was your creative process for this project like?

The creative process for this project was a lot different than my other ones because the subject matter of the project was deeper than some of my previous work, not all.  Since this project was an idea I had been sitting on since 2009, the general feel of the project wasn’t hard to create at all.  I worked in a weird order for the project though, that I can admit lol.  I made the cover and a track list outline MONTHS before I recorded anything for it.  I did this to keep myself organized.  I knew I wanted a set # of tracks so I tried my hardest…and I mean my hardest to keep my word! I ended up adding “Pink (Act II)” like a week before the project released lol shame on me.  After the art work I pieced together some ideas based on the song titles I came up with then moved to the production and writing stage.  I started recording mid way through the project so I could have time to mix and master what I had and also to get a feel of what was going to be presented.  The album has a darker tone to it than my previous project “Bum Life: The Semi Epic Tale Of Curbside Jones”.  This happened for 2 reasons, one because that’s where my mind was during the creative process and two, because I wanted listeners to understand the depths of my mind.  I would have to say the writing process was the hardest part…I’m the SLOWEST writer in the history of music!! It can take up to a month for me to finish a song.  I mean it took me from Jan-Aug to compile 10 songs lol

 You produced 8 out of the 10 tracks on this project, which song is your favorite?

Yes this is true, I sampled soul, Japanese folk songs, and anime soundtracks.  I also mixed in some original production for an interlude. I would say 5 of the songs I produced came from anime soundtracks…if you include the 4 interludes that’s 7 beats that contain songs sampled from anime OSTs.  The other two beats were handled quite nicely by BeRight (ZombieKing3000!) and Corey Arnell (Hot Chicks x Arcade Sticks).  It was fate how the collabs came together! BeRight thought his beat was a throw-a-way and I just so happened to love it! And Corey sent me a beat for the song I had given up on making the beat for…seconds after I quit.  It was crazy! Dude sent me a tweet and was like check your email…and BAM…it was history after that! Lol My fave song changes…it depends on how I feel…right now I’d say “Blind Swordsman” has been on my mind a lot lately.  It was the first song I wrote and memorized for the project.  The story behind that track is kinda simple…I wrote it with the intentions to get people to open their eyes to their situation…and remember that some things are out of our control…I started off the track saying, “As I…Hold the phone it’s quiet on the other line/That’s what I get for asking God for some more time”.  There are some things in life we have to take blame for, and there are things that are out of our reach…thus we have to pick and choose our own battles.

The track “white” features some cool Japanese vocals; I have to know what you sampled.

“White” is special to me for 2 reasons…one I made that beat in 2009 believe it or not. Two it was like my 1^st time chopping up samples the way I did for that track.  I don’t know if anyone noticed but the beat itself is full of anger…that’s why I put so many percussions and hard hitting kicks in it.  The track also lacks a baseline…but I did that for a reason also…but I’ll let people ponder on why for now.  And honestly man…I would tell you what I sampled…but that was 2 years ago lol All I know is, it’s a Japanese folk song.

What did you draw inspiration from when you were creating The Cherry Blossom Effect?

Inspiration for the album came from- loneliness, anger, confusion, depression, life experiences, love, joy, and Anime.  Even though I didn’t speak on anime in the album, it still influenced me on some of the themes of the songs and in the production process.  

 How would you describe the sound of this project?

 I would say the sound of the project is very conscious…without overdoing it.  Although that’s how I feel it sounds…someone may feel different because like I said earlier…the concept varies person to person.

 One of my favorites on the project is “Hot Chicks x Arcade Sticks” how did you come up with the idea for it?

The ideas came from going to the arcade with my girlfriend.  She likes to take part in my nerdy activities so we go from time to time and she also plays when we’re just chilling in the dojo (apartment).  The idea of the song was to take my real life experience and add a little twist on it.  I mean hey…how many guys would kill to have a girlfriend that plays Street Fighter or Tekken?  One day I went to the arcade and I had part of the hook already in my head (the chant)…and I sat and played Street Fighter III: Third Strike for a good hour or so.  Then it hit me!  When you sit down to play video games at the arcade, you can’t see who is on the other side, unless you look past the cabinet or get up and walk around.  Side note: Arcade UFO in Austin Texas has a Japanese style arcade set up. So I thought to myself, what if one day you’re playing and there’s a chick on the other side and you thought it was a guy because of how good they were playing…then when you look to see who it is…it’s a beautiful young lady.  After getting that idea mapped out I went deeper and interacted with this female, but our interactions were through arcade cabinets…I guess you can say we were flirting.  Then when we get tied up, I go in for the kill and give her an ultimatum…if I were to win the next game she would have to go out on a date with me, but if I lose then I’d get on my knees and deem her the better gamer…and of course I won!! Lol This all can be tied into fantasy, reality, or time wasted. 

 Your love for gaming and Anime is clearly reflected in this project, what are your top 5 for each?             

 To an extent it is reflected, but only in interludes and so on.  I wanted to keep the anime talk obsolete for this project because I had a point to prove to people who wanted to classify me. 

 Video Games

1)      Street Fighter Alpha (Zero) 3

2)      Final Fantasy X

3)      Pokemon Red

4)      Tekken series

5)      Super Smash Bros 1

 Anime

1)      Tenchi Muyo series

2)      Golden Boy

3)      Outlaw Star

4)      Naruto series

5)      Anything Gundam

 The anime list was hard because I move things on and off…if this were top 10 it would’ve been easier lol

 You created, directed, and edited, a short film called Sakura’s Eve for the EP, what was that experience like?

 To be 100% honest with you…might come as a shocker to some…we shot that whole film in 1 day!  We were really pressed for time due to conflicting personal, work, and school schedules.  Me and Tasha had similar off days, but our models, Sanetra who I may add is a very talented individual had modeling business and school and work..so everyone was basically everywhere!  Finally we all got on the same page and shot from like 4pm-1 almost 2am.  The film was an idea I had been sitting on for a while, so there wasn’t a time where we didn’t know what we were doing because I planned out the scenes way before we even had a shoot date. The concept of the film was to show the bridge between reality and lifelessness.  The film shows a woman who seems to appear when I least expect her…which questions the theme of the album…what is a dream?  This was my 1^st time being a director of any type of video and I felt like the pressure was really riding on my shoulders because I was in charge of getting the vision correct.  Tasha shot the film, who I may add did an excellent job! Believe it or not it was her 1^st time shooting a film! I never thought that a couple days after buying that expensive camera ($844) that we would make such an awesome film! I absolutely LOVE the film…I’m really proud of it! 

 What things can we expect from you in the future?

 As far as me putting out projects with my voice on them…you’ll have to wait until 2011 for that! Lol I’ll be working on more film and doing some collaborative work with artists from a production stand point.  It’s very rare that you’d hear someone on a beat made by me…so this should be interesting!

Why should people listen to Cherry Blossom Effect?

 I can’t say they SHOULD listen…because it’s not really up to me…but I can say if you don’t want to listen…you can slap box a hungry panda.

Heres the tracklist and download for The Cherry Blossom Effect: Endless Dream Theory:

Download The Cherry Blossom Effect: Endless Dream Theory

Watch The Sakura’s Eve Short Film:

Sakura’s Eve (Short Film) from Curbside Jones on Vimeo.